Oct. 27, 2009

Gift of 50 trees honors Cornell's campus forestry efforts

Cornell just got greener. Fifty trees were planted Oct. 22 near and on the Arts Quad, Libe Slope and near the football stadium, a gift from the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota as part of the one-year anniversary to celebrate the foundation's Tree Campus USA program.

Cornell was recently recognized as one of only 13 schools -- and the first Ivy League School -- by the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA program for practicing sound campus forestry for 2009.

Schools that make the cut must meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement: establish a campus tree advisory committee; produce evidence of a campus tree-care plan; verify dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree plan; observe Arbor Day; and create a service-learning project to engage the student body.

The Tree Campus USA program teamed up with about 25 Cornell student volunteers to plant the trees, which were primarily various kinds of oaks, maples and pines.

The event was part of Cornell's Campus Sustainability Day, during which 15 student groups and Cornell departments conducted outreach on Ho Plaza. On Oct. 21 Joseph E. Grasso, assistant dean for finance and administration in Cornell's ILR School, participated in a Webcast of a national panel of experts speaking on "Sustainability Strategies for Vibrant Campus Communities."